Student crying in class?

Has anyone ever dealt with having to send a student out to the counselor or office for a mental health issue? Today in class a student found out (via text I suppose) that a family member died. She worked okay and then suddenly began bawling, doubled over inconsolable crying.It was disrupting class so I called the counselor and asked if she could come down, they said yes so I told her she could go down. I felt kind of at a loss of what to do, I am curious to know what others would have done or if I handled it correctly?

It sounds like you handled it ok. I think it was poor judgement for someone to send the student a text with that kind of news. This is one reason why students should not have access to their phones in class along with about 1000 other reasons I can think of.

I would have stopped everything and given a few minutes to acknowledge the child's feelings! Good job getting her to the counselor.

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I did that. I asked her what was wrong and she told me. Then I said something along the lines of "Oh my goodness I'm so sorry." Then called her up to my desk to ask in private if she wanted to speak with a counselor, etc.

The text came through between classes, because they are not allowed to have their phones in class.

This is a fairly common occurrence. I’ve had kids upset for all kinds of reasons: death of a loved one, abuse, illness, etc. Sometimes they just need a good cry. Other times they need to talk to someone. It depends on age, too.

This is a fairly common occurrence. I’ve had kids upset for all kinds of reasons: death of a loved one, abuse, illness, etc. Sometimes they just need a good cry. Other times they need to talk to someone. It depends on age, too.

I ask if they want to get a drink or go down to the office. They usually say yes and I write them a pass. I then shoot our counselor an email. Usually it's fights with friends or SOs that have caused most of the tears I've seen.

I had a student who was an amputee due to cancer, had two ostomy bags, and had lost his mother when he was young, but old enough to remember her. We had no counselor. He would often cry that he was afraid he would 'not get to live my life'. Talk about heartbreaking.

I wouldn’t classify sadness after just hearing of a death as a mental health issue...crying is a normal reaction. So inappropriate this student found out such bad news via text and it sounds like she tried to hold it together as much as she could. The counselor getting involved was a good choice...

I wouldn’t classify sadness after just hearing of a death as a mental health issue...crying is a normal reaction. So inappropriate this student found out such bad news via text and it sounds like she tried to hold it together as much as she could. The counselor getting involved was a good choice...

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I wasn't meaning it as a mental health issue like, an illness but more something distressing their mental health at that moment.